Perimeter driven labeller

ABSTRACT

An applicator to apply a label ( 11 ) to an object such as a container ( 12 ). Each label ( 11 ) is applied by a label applicator ( 68 ). More particularly, the apparatus ( 10 ) is adapted to apply labels ( 11 ) irrespective of whether the container ( 12 ) is of circular or non-circular configuration. The container ( 12 ) is mounted on a holding plate ( 23 ) which is caused to rotate so that the peripheral speed of the container ( 12 ) is substantially constant.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to labelling machines.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Previous automatic labelling machines consist of an automatic labeldispenser and an automatic system where the object to be labelled ispresented to the close proximity of the exposed, adhesive part of thelabel which is then pressed onto the surface of the object by a roller,brush, stamper, air blast, conveyor belt, or some other means. The labeldispenser dispenses the label at the same speed as the surface speed ofthe face of the object to be labelled. The object may travel throughwithout changing its position in relation to the direction of travel ofthe input-output conveyor, it may stop and spin at the label dispensingpoint, in case of a round or cylindrical object. Square or rectangularobjects, where the label is to be applied to more than one face of theobject, require two or more label dispensers. At present, a continuous,wrap-around label can not be applied unless the object is nearly roundin cross-section.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the present invention to overcome or substantiallyameliorate the above disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is disclosed herein an applicator to apply a label to an articlehaving a bottom and side peripheral wall, said container being of acircular or non-circular configuration, said apparatus comprising:

a holding means which receives and holds the container;

a label applicator to apply a label to the peripheral surface of thecontainer;

drive means to cause movement of the container about an axis generallyparallel to the peripheral surface so that said peripheral surfacepasses the applicator at a substantially constant speed, said drivemeans including a cam slot in said holding means, which slot has aconfiguration corresponding to the configuration of the peripheralsurface, a pair of rollers located in said slot to maintain saidperipheral surface adjacent said applicator, and a drive memberoperatively associated with the holding means to cause movement thereofabout an axis generally parallel to the peripheral surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred forms of the present invention will now be described by wayof example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGS. 1 to 4 are schematic top plan views of a labelling apparatus invarious stages of operation;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side elevation of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of a portion of the apparatus of FIGS. 1to 4;

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of a plate which receives an object towhich a label is to be applied;

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectioned side elevation of the plate of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of a drive mechanism employed in theapparatus of FIGS. 1 to 4; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view of an alternative construction of theapparatus of FIGS. 1 to 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIGS. 1 to 9 of the accompanying drawings there is schematicallydepicted an apparatus 10 to apply a label 11 to an object such as acontainer 12. Each label 11 is applied by the label applicator roller68.

The container 12 has a top, bottom and side peripheral wall. Thecontainer 12 may be of circular or non-circular configuration.

The apparatus 10 includes a delivery chute 13, which may include aconveyor and guide rails, which receives a stream of containers 12 whichare to be labelled. The end container 12 is located at a predeterminedposition relative to a guide 14 so as to be aligned therewith. The baseframe 15 which includes a series of plates 16, 17, 18 and 36 joined by aseries of connecting bolts 19 which maintain the plates 16, 17, 18 and36 in a generally parallel spaced fixed relationship. This relationshipcan be adjusted when required. The chute 13 and guide 14 are mounted onthe plate 16.

Depending from the plate 17 so as to be rotatably supported thereby is adelivery assembly 20. The assembly 20 includes three arms, the main arm21, the pusher arm 22 and the holding arm 25. With the arm 22 beingrotatably driven, it moves the end container 12 along the guide 14 to bedelivered to a holding plate 23. At the holding plate 23, the container12 has the label 11 applied. The clamping arm 25 which is pivotallymounted at the extremity of the main arm 21 then moves the labelledcontainer 12 to a further chute 24 wherefrom the labelled container 12is removed from the apparatus 10. As can be seen, the clamping arm 25has two functions, it cooperates with the arm 22 to securely hold theend container 12 as it is moved to the plate 23 and it propels thepreviously labelled container 12 to and along the chute 24 as can bebest seen in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The arm 25 has extending from it a spring 26 which extends to the arm 21and biases the arm 25 into a grasping position with respect to theengaged container 12. Extending between the arms 21 and 22 is a spring27 which urges the arms 22 to a predetermined working position as bestseen in FIG. 1. This position would be defined by stop surfaces whichwould abut under the influence of the spring 27.

Movement of the arm 25 is coordinated with rotational movement of thearms 21 and 22 by means of a cam 28 which has an outer cam surface 29engaged by the cam follower 30 mounted on the arm 25. The cam surface 29is configured to move the arm 25 into and out of engagement with thecontainer 12 at the appropriate position as each container 12 is movedthrough the apparatus 10. For example, the surface 29 has an extremitywhich would release the cam follower 30 and therefore permit pivotingmovement of the arm 25 under the influence of the spring 26 to engagethe container 12 as it is moving along the guides 14.

The arm 21 is fixed to a rotatably driven shaft 33 and pivotallysupports the arm 22. Affixed to the arm 22 is a cam roller 32 which,when in contact with the cam surface 78, causes the arm 22 to move awayfrom the arm 25, therefore releasing the container 12 and, at the sametime, moving out of the way of the container as can be seen in FIG. 4.There is also provided a roller 34 about which portion of the spring 27passes.

The holding plate 23 is mounted on a further plate 36 of the frame 15.More particularly the plate 23 is mounted on the plate 36 for movementabout a vertical axis 37 which is caused to move about a closed loop byinteraction between the plate 23 and a pair of rollers 38 located withina cam slot 39 formed in the plate 23. A hollow shaft 40 is attached tothe plate 23 and extends through an enlarged aperture 41 in the plate36. A retaining washer 42 slidably abuts the underside of the plate 36and retains the plate 23 mounted on the plate 36 by threaded engagementof a nut 43 on the lower extremity of the shaft 40. The axis 37 isgenerally parallel to the peripheral surface of the container 12 towhich the label is to be applied.

The peripheral edge of the plate 23 is provided with gear teeth 44 whichmesh with teeth of a gear 45 so as to be driven thereby.

The gear 45 is mounted on and driven by a shaft 46 which extends to atorque limiting device 47. The device 47 is driven by a motor(preferably electric) 48. The shaft 46 has its longitudinal axislaterally of but spaced between the rollers 38.

The upper end of he shaft 46 is provided with a gear 75 which drivesgear 76, thereby changing the direction of rotation of gear 76 to whicha timing pulley 49 is attached. The timing pulley 49 engages a timingbelt 50 which drives a further pulley 51 fixed to the shaft 33 so as todrive the shaft 33.

The container 12 is clamped in position on the plate 23 by means of aclamp assembly 52. The clamp assembly 52 is also rotatably driven fromthe shaft 46 via gear 53. As the container 12 is caused to rotate aboutthe axis 37 the clamp assembly 52 must also move in the same manner. Theclamp assembly 52 includes a plate 54 having a slot 55 engaged withrollers 56. The plate 54 has external gear teeth 57 engaged with thegear 53. The plate 54 is of the same configuration as the plate 23 andtherefore the rotational axis of the plate 54 is maintained coaxial withthe rotational axis 37 of the plate 23. The plate 54 is maintained inposition by a sliding retaining washer 58 held in position by engagementof a nut 59 on a threaded portion of the hollow shaft 60.

Mounted on the plate 54 is a pneumatic cylinder 61 having a piston rod62 which passes through the hollow shaft 60. The lower extremity of thepiston rod 62 has a clamp 63 which engages the upper end of thecontainer 12 to press the container 12 into contact with the plate 23.The clamp 63 is shaped to fit snuggly into or at the upper extremity ofthe container 12.

A valve is operated to coordinate delivery of air under pressure to thepneumatic cylinder 61 to engage and release the container 12 at theappropriate time, by raising and lowering the clamp 63.

Operation of the pneumatic cylinder 61 is coordinated with the remainderof the apparatus 10 by means of a cam 64 fixed to the shaft 33. The cam64 operates a pneumatic valve 65 which governs the delivery of air underpressure to the cylinder 61. A proximity switch 66 detects a projection67 so that the switch 66 cooperates with the remainder of the apparatus10. The switch 66 controls a label delivery mechanism to deliver thelabels 11.

It should be appreciated that the motor 48 is continuously rotating inthe direction of the arrow 74 and therefore continuously driving theshaft 33 through repeated revolution. Accordingly, there needs to berelative movement between the shaft 33 and the arm 22. This relativemovement is required when the container 12 is clamped against the plate23 and engaged by the arm 22. When the container 12 is released formovement the arm 22 can resume its motion. The arm 22 has a restposition defined by cooperating stop surfaces and is urged toward thatrest position by means of the spring 27.

The container 12 at the position of the label applicator roller 68 isintended to have a constant peripheral speed. As discussed previouslythis is achieved by the meshing engagement of the gear 45 with the teeth44. To maintain this meshing engagement the axis 37 is caused to move asdiscussed above. Accordingly the plate 23 and cam slot 39 must have aconfiguration corresponding to the configuration of the container 12.More particularly, the plate 23 and cam slot 39 must have aconfiguration which corresponds to the transverse cross-sectionalconfiguration of the container 12 as seen in FIGS. 1 to 4.

The applicator roller 68 is supported on a pivotally mounted arm 79,urged to maintain the roller 68 on the peripheral surface of thecontainer 12 by means of a pneumatic cylinder 80.

Labels are delivered to the roller 68 by means of a backing film 81which passes a delivery blade 82 which causes the individual labels to“peel” from the backing film 81 and passed to the roller 68 which thenapplies the individual labels to the containers 12.

The pneumatic cylinder 80 is controlled by means of a cam 83 whichcooperates with a valve 84 to govern the delivery of air under pressureto the cylinder 80 and thereby coordinate its operation with respect tothe remainder of the apparatus 10. The valve 84 via the cylinder 80causes movement of the roller 68 so as to enable the initial securing ofthe leading portion of each label to the container 12.

The arm 22 is also required to be free for movement relative to theshaft 33 to accommodate the non-circular configuration of the container12. When the arm 22 is in contact with the container 12 and thecontainer 12 is clamped in position on the plate 23, the arm 22 needs tobe deflected from the peripheral surface of the container 12 which isbeing labelled.

To accommodate various shaped containers, a series of sets of plates 23and 54 are provided. Each set having a shape corresponding to the shapeof the container to be labelled.

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of an alternative construction ofthe machine 10 of FIGS. 1 to 9. In this embodiment an alternative drivemechanism 69 is provided to drive the container 12 to have a constantperipheral speed at its point of contact with the roller 68. As in theprevious embodiment the plate 23 is provided with gear teeth 44. Thegear teeth 44 mesh and engage gear teeth on a belt 70 driven by means ofa pulley 71 attached to the shaft 46. The belt 70 passes about idlerrollers 72 as well as idler rollers 73 which maintain meshing engagementbetween the belt 70 and teeth 44.

In the above described preferred embodiments two different drive systemsare described. For example in the embodiment of FIG. 1 is gear teeth 44and gear 45 which cause rotation of the plate 23. In the embodiment ofFIG. 10, the belt 70 and the teeth 44 perform the same function.However, other drive means may be employed such as chain drive systemsand friction drive systems.

In the above two described embodiments, the container 12 is held on theplate 23 by means of the clamp assembly 52. As an alternativeconstruction, the clamp assembly 52 could be replaced by a vacuum systemor other clamping arrangement purely associated with the plate 23. Thiswould then eliminate the clamp assembly 52 and the drive systemassociated therewith.

What is claimed is:
 1. An applicator assembly to apply a label to acontainer having top, bottom and side walls with a peripheral surface,said container being of a circular or non-circular configuration, saidassembly comprising: a holding means which receives and holds thecontainer; a label applicator to apply a label to the peripheral surfaceof the container; drive means to cause movement of the container aboutan axis generally parallel to the peripheral surface so that saidperipheral surface passes the applicator at a substantially constantspeed, said drive means including a cam slot in said holding means,which slot has a configuration corresponding to the configuration of theperipheral surface, a pair of rollers located in said cam slot so thatengagement therein maintains said peripheral surface adjacent saidapplicator, and a driven member operatively associated with said holdingmeans to cause movement thereof about said axis generally parallel tothe peripheral surface thereby enabling the label applicator to applythe label to the peripheral surface of circular and non-circularcontainers.
 2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said holding meanscomprises an engagement portion with a configuration corresponding tothe configuration of said peripheral surface; and said drive meansincludes a drive member having a circular configuration and driving saiddriven member, with said driven member having a rotational axislaterally spaced from but between said rollers.
 3. The assembly of claim2, wherein said engagement portion has a drive surface with gear teeth,and said driven member is a circular gear meshed with said gear teeth.4. The assembly of claim 2, wherein said drive member is circular, andsaid assembly further includes a drive belt driven by said drive member.5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said holding means is supported sothat said axis is moved along a predetermined path.
 6. The assembly ofclaim 5, wherein said holding means comprises a container receivingmember upon which the container is placed, and clamp means to secure thecontainer in position on the receiving member so that said peripheralsurface passes said label applicator.
 7. The assembly of claim 6,wherein said receiving member and clamp means move about said axis andare moved in a coordinated manner.
 8. The assembly of claim 7, whereinsaid clamp means has a drive surface with gear teeth providing anengagement portion, and a drive member drivingly associated with theclamp means engagement portion to cause movement thereof, the clampmeans engagement portion having a configuration corresponding to theconfiguration of the peripheral surface of the container.
 9. Theassembly of claim 8, wherein said clamp means is provided with a clampmeans cam slot, with said clamp means cam slot being engaged by a pairof rollers which cause the clamp means to move in a coordinated mannerwith respect to the holding means.
 10. The assembly of claim 1, furtherincluding: delivery means to deliver the container to said holdingmeans, said delivery means including a delivery device to receive aplurality of containers and locate one of the containers at apredetermined position, and an arm assembly rotatably driven about afixed axis and configured to engage said one container and move said onecontainer to said holding means, said arm assembly including: a firstarm to engage said one container and move it form said holding means,and a second arm to engage the container to aid in retaining thecontainer in engagement with the first arm.
 11. The assembly of claim10, wherein said second arm also aids in propelling a labeled containerfrom the apparatus.